Hamilton claims crucial victory as Ferrari disappoints Tifosi on home turf

Mercedes AMG's Lewis Hamilton claimed a crucial victory at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of team mate and current Drivers' Championship leader Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa of Williams - who returned to the podium since the Spanish Grand Prix last year.

With the result, the gap between the Silver Arrows have narrowed to 22 points, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo trailing behind at 166 points after finishing a strong fifth in Italy yesterday - ahead of team mate and defending champion - Sebastian Vettel - who currently stands sixth on the charts with 106 points.

At the end of the race at the historic Monza track, the first four cars to cross the dance of the chequered flags were powered by Mercedes' PU106A Hybrid power units - further underlining their unyielding character. It can also be cited as a critical reason as to why the Mercedes works team leads the Constructors' charts with a colossal 454 points - 182 points ahead of Red Bull and a vast 277 points ahead of Williams.

The home race of Ferrari proved to be a lacklustre experience for the army of Tifosi (fans of Scuderia Ferrari) after a rare retirement from Fernando Alonso on lap 29 - his first since Malaysia 2013 - and a ninth place finish for Kimi Raikkonen in the other F14 T. The poor result has allowed Williams to leap ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' table, with the Italian team - at 162 points - trailing behind Williams by 15 points.

Despite starting from pole, Hamilton's slow getaway saw him dropping down the grid to fourth by the first corner. He spent around a fifth of the race working his way back to second before taking the fight to Rosberg.

His luck did not improve when his team advised 'everything is in a muddle' on the second lap. Not feeling discouraged, Hamilton passed Magnussen for third on lap five and traded places with Massa on the inside of Turn 1 on the 10^th lap before claiming the lead after Rosberg's blunder on the 29^th lap.

At the 28^th lap, he narrowed the gap to Rosberg, and piled on the pressure on his team mate which caused the latter to miss his braking point for the first chicane on lap 29 and was forced to negotiate the polystyrene slalom in the run off.

Taking the opportunity, Hamilton took the lead and cruised to claim his second victory at the Italian track.

Felipe Massa had a lonely race to third place, while team mate Valtteri Bottas - who also suffered from a slow start - recovered to a decent fourth finish and scored valuable points for the team.

McLaren's Kevin Magnussen finished seventh - but was demoted to tenth after a five-second penalty for his defence of Bottas into Turn 1 on the 35^th lap. Sergio Perez finished seventh after an aggressive (and entertaining) battle with former team mate Jenson Button, in the other McLaren.

Post-race, Hamilton explained that the button for the launch sequence did not work as he arrived on the grid, meaning his rpm was not controlled as the lights went out. Clueless on what to do, he floored the throttle as he saw Magnussen's McLaren and Massa's Williams fly past on either side.

The fight for the championship resumes under the lights in our city-state in a fortnight - the first of the final six flyaway races - as the high-octane action leaves Europe on a high note.